All-Ireland League Division 2B: Round 7 Review

Greystones continue to pile on the points, so much so that they have edged ahead of long-time leaders MU Barnhall at the top of the table. Elsewhere, Rainey Old Boys won their Ulster derby clash with Belfast Harlequins to make it into the top four for the first time this season.

Clubs are invited to post the best tries from their All-Ireland League fixtures on the club's Twitter, Facebook or Instagram pages using the hashtag #AILTry and tag @irishrugby. The scorer of #AILTry of the Month will receive a voucher for €250 and each of the monthly winners will be entered into the #AILTry of the Season competition.

Wanderers made it two wins on the bounce by comfortably seeing off Dungannon's challenge 28-3 at Merrion Road. The Chaps were in control right from prop Diarmuid Higgins' second-minute try onwards, with two penalties straight in front seeing out-half Peter Brougham make it 13-0 inside the opening quarter.

Dungannon were frustratingly dispossessed from a promising lineout position near the Wanderers whitewash, although their scrum half John Russell rifled over a long-range penalty near half-time to get them off the mark at 13-3. A good run by Matthew Montgomery, coupled with a Daniel Maxwell dummy, offered them further hope on the resumption.

However, the visitors' indiscipline continued to hurt them with Brougham firing over a 50th minute penalty goal. Wanderers punished another 'Gannon error, this time a knock-on in front of their own posts. The resulting scrum saw the home side move the ball in crisp fashion for winger Eoin O'Shaughnessy to touch down in the corner.

With 'Gannon then losing number 8 Jonah Mau'u to the sin bin in the 64th minute, Wanderers wrapped up the result six minute later when flanker Eoghan Nihill was driven over for a try which the reliable Brougham converted, taking his tally to 13 points for the day.

A last-minute try was of little consolation to Corinthians as they lost 18-7 at home to unbeaten MU Barnhall. The Galway side trailed 8-0 at half-time, having had a try disallowed for crossing, and second half touchdowns from Geoff Brooks and Eoghain Quinn gained the Blue Bulls their seventh straight victory.

That was full-back Quinn's fifth try of the season, keeping him within two of winger Conor Lacey who dotted down in the first half at Corinthian Park to take his tally to seven. Despite extending their winning streak out west, Barnhall have slipped to second place due to Greystones' bonus point exploits.

For the fourth time this season 'Stones scored 40-plus points in a league match, running out 53-17 bonus point winners over Sunday's Well at Dr. Hickey Park. With Ferdia Kenny and Killian Marmion both bagging braces and Ian Cullinane, Chris Simmonds, Mick Doyle and Ryan O'Loughlin also touching down, the Wicklow men are now top of the table on scoring difference.

Full-back and captain Andrew Kealy landed five conversions and a penalty to take his season's haul to 102 points already. Greystones are on the road to second-from-bottom Dungannon before a mouth-watering showdown with Barnhall on Saturday week when both clubs' unbeaten records could be on the line.

Rainey Old Boys claimed their fourth victory in a row by defeating Belfast Harlequins 10-7 under the Hatrick Park floodlights. The wet ball and slippery underfoot conditions made handling and phase-building particularly difficult, with a low-scoring derby encounter playing out. Harlequins had the early possession but missed a very kickable fourth-minute penalty.

After an initial lineout from a penalty failed to produce a score, Rainey picked up their first points from a subsequent lineout infringement by 'Quins and out-half Andrew Magrath split the posts from 30 metres out. Rainey came hunting for the opening try, captain Paul Pritchard's short pass releasing hooker George Fritz from halfway before winger Scott McLean was tackled into touch just short of the line.

Four minute before half-time, the Magherafelt side struck a crucial blow with a raking kick from Magrath causing problems for the 'Quins defence, and a bout of scrum pressure saw the Rainey pack advance up to the line, resulting in referee Dermot Blake awarding them a penalty try.

There were yellow cards for both sides in an almost scoreless second half, during which Rainey had to play with 13 players after replacements Andrew Browne and Michael Nevin were both sin-binned. Rainey left points behind them with Magrath putting a drop goal wide and McLean narrowly missing a monster penalty attempt.

South African Fritz broke from the tail of a five-metre lineout only to see possession ripped away just when a try looked likely, and the late score actually came at the other end. Full-back Mark Glover's score ensured that Harlequins bagged a bonus point to stay eighth ahead of next Saturday's home game against Skerries.

The Goats fell to a 27-19 defeat to Sligo in the seventh round, the Yeats men winning for the first time in five rounds. It was all Sligo early on at Holmpatrick where winger Calum Goddard and flanker Matt Davey scored tries which were converted full-back Jack Keegan, who also tagged on a penalty for a 17-0 lead.

Skerries also had to cope with the injury-enforced loss of out-half Bill Mulcahy, albeit that replacement Robbie Jenkinson acquitted himself well. He converted a try from centre Sean Dempsey following a well-executed lineout maul, with only a marginal knock-on preventing the home side from adding a second try on the stroke of half-time.

Skerries resumed in fine fettle, turnover ball leading to Jenkinson slicing through for a seven-pointer. Despite losing hooker Conn Marrey to the sin bin following a melee, the Goats conjured up a third try when Paul Devitt brilliantly offloaded, under pressure from two defenders, to full-back Lorcan Jones whose acceleration took him over to make it 19-17.

However, some old failings like handling errors, turnovers and indiscipline caught up with the home side and Sligo countered with a quick one-two, as unconverted tries from Goddard and scrum half Ryan Feehily proved decisive. To add to Skerries' frustration, they were held up over the try-line and missed out on the bonus point.

The Ireland Under-19s, sponsored by PwC, kicked off their international season with a clash with the touring Australia Schools & Under-18 team at Energia Park on Saturday. Check out the Irish Rugby TV highlights from the game.

Watch highlights from Ireland's final match of 2018 as they hosted the 13th-ranked USA Eagles in the GUINNESS Series at the Aviva Stadium. Andrew Conway weighed in with a hat-trick of tries on a night that saw his Munster team-mate Sam Arnold make his international debut.

The IRFU have announced that Andy Farrell will become Ireland head coach after next year's Rugby World Cup. IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne and Performance Director David Nucifora speak about the decision to appoint Farrell as Joe Schmidt's successor in 2019.

IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora speaks about Joe Schmidt's decision to finish coaching after the 2019 Rugby World Cup 2019 and his enormous contribution to Irish Rugby. "The success has been so outstanding across so many different areas. Joe deserves a lot of credit for that and there's more to come hopefully," he said.

Sam Arnold won his first cap for Ireland, coming on as a half-time replacement in their 57-14 GUINNESS Series win over the USA. He spoke to Irish Rugby TV about his debut and his journey to becoming an Ireland international player.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt and scrum half John Cooney, who comes in for his first start, spoke to the media at the team announcement press conference ahead of Saturday's GUINNESS Series game against the USA.

Ulster's Will Addison earns his third Ireland cap on Saturday having come off the bench against Italy and stepped in as a late replacement for Robbie Henshaw against Argentina. He previews the challenge the team will face from the USA.

Ireland Women's centre Michelle Claffey spoke to Irish Rugby TV about her first start in the green jersey last weekend, her disappointment with the result against the USA, and how much she is looking forward to facing England at Twickenham.

Hooker Niall Scannell is 'hungry for more' time in the green jersey and not content to rest on the laurels of his successful summer tour in Australia. The 26-year-old was on media duty yesterday ahead of Ireland's final GUINNESS Series game against the USA on Saturday.

The Ireland Women's team had huge support at Energia Park for the first of their November internationals. A number of clubs organised buses to Donnybrook to bring players and supporters from across the provinces. Irish Rugby TV tagged along with Wicklow RFC to see what the journey was like.

Ireland skills and kicking coach Richie Murphy spoke to the media about half-backs Kieran Marmion, Joey Carbery and Jonathan Sexton, the historic win over New Zealand, and refocusing for Saturday's GUINNESS Series finale against the USA.

Ireland out-half Jonathan Sexton spoke to Irish Rugby TV about the effort put in by the whole squad in the build-up to the New Zealand game and the need to maintain that standard for next Saturday's GUINNESS Series finale against the USA.